The present invention concerns a method of manufacturing a bulky textured non-woven. The method comprises the steps of:
(a) producing a spin-bonded non-woven from many individual filaments that have been stretched and deposited in the form of a skein of fibers, PA1 (b) pressing and hot bonding the skein into a semifinished non-woven between a pair of rollers, and PA1 (c) processing the skein with another pair of rollers.
A method of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,174. This patent describes a laminated sheet comprising a non-woven layer of bunches of kinked polymeric fibers bonded to a sheet of polymer. Rollers impress a bonding and decorative pattern that connects the non-woven to the sheet.
The same patent's Background of the Invention mentions that roller impressing is one method of modifying a non-woven's feel while simultaneously producing a decorative pattern. The patent also refers to the U.S. Pat. No. 4,592,943 which relates a method whereby a non-woven is heated while the sheet being processed travels between two gratings that transfer their patterns to the non-woven. Also mentioned is the U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,124 that discloses a patterned-roller impression method.
Common to all these methods is that a bulky layer of non-woven must be initially produced before being impressed with a pattern. The layer of non-woven, however, decreases rather than increases in bulk.